New releases last eight weeks: Minimal/Tech House

Review: Japan's Thinner Groove flesh out their distinctive aesthetic with every new release. This time around, they welcome none other than Lemmi Ash, KOOLMFL and Sonic Weapon for a collaborative three-track EP of lowercase minimal tech and textural vignettes. The aim of the game is best encapsulated in the label's commentary: "each track can add a distinctive touch to the night, as like completing your cocktail with lemon and/or lime". Each track indeed sounds to the ear akin to how a fruity garnish tastes, with Ash's 'Presence' bringing tart citrine breaks notes to a gracefully held glass vessel. KOOLMFL's 'Atonbow' is drier bitters, barely availing itself of its trembling chords and sampled vox after an ultra-snappy initiation featuring a mere bass and kick-clap. Thinner Groove know all too well that good music is like an excitation of the flavour palate, and that minimality is the thing that lets such flavours sit.

Review: After a surprise sojourn last year as Sato, an alias he used to explore ambient and dub techno territory, Satoshi Tomiie has reverted to his given name for solo album number five - a thin return given he made his 12" debut way back in 1989. The New York-based Japanese great is in fine form from the start, effortlessly sashaying between hypnotic deep tech-house (the eyes-closed, early morning excellence of 'You Are Here'), spaced-out dub-house ('Number 1'), chunky-but-dubby deep house of the kind that his friend Francois K would love ('Magic Hour'), acid-flecked minimalism ('Blast'), vintage-sounding dub techno ('A52', 'Meditation in an Emergency'), locked-in soundscape house (the shuffling and yearning 'Phase Space') and sub-heavy ambient dub ('Fast Track').